Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PINC. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Premier from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Benchmark lowered shares of Premier from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Premier from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Premier from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.81.

Premier Price Performance

Shares of PINC opened at $20.15 on Monday. Premier has a one year low of $17.95 and a one year high of $23.01. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.89 and a 200-day moving average of $19.68.

Premier (NASDAQ:PINC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.25. Premier had a return on equity of 11.69% and a net margin of 8.88%. The firm had revenue of $350.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Premier will post 1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Premier Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Premier’s payout ratio is 81.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of Premier stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $90,038.90. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 104,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,449.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Andy Brailo sold 4,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.51, for a total transaction of $90,038.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 104,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,141,449.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Alkire sold 19,362 shares of Premier stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.83, for a total transaction of $403,310.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 578,143 shares in the company, valued at $12,042,718.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,441 shares of company stock valued at $2,738,548. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Premier by 6.7% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Premier by 26.3% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 327,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,551,000 after purchasing an additional 68,112 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Premier in the third quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Premier during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Premier by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,067 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 9,796 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.41% of the company’s stock.

About Premier

Premier, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a healthcare improvement company in the United States. It operates in two segments, Supply Chain Services and Performance Services. The Supply Chain Services segment offers its members with an access to a range of products and services, including medical and surgical products, pharmaceuticals, laboratory supplies, capital equipment, information technology, facilities and construction, and food and nutritional products, as well as purchased services, such as clinical engineering and workforce solutions.